2012-2013College Football SeasonPost-GameArchives

Ohio State, LSU, Notre Dame Avoid Upsets

Texas Tech beats TCU in overtime

While Alabama and Florida had no trouble with their respective opponents on Saturday, numerous teams got all they could handle.

Alabama rolled to a 44-13 win at Tennessee. Meanwhile, Florida drew little resistance from South Carolina in a 44-11 win in "The Swamp", snapping a two-game losing streak to former Gator head coach Steve Spurrier.

Kansas State had a surprisingly easy time in Morgantown in dumping West Virginia 55-14 behind QB Collin Klien's Heisman-worthy performance. Klein completed 17-of-19 throws for 321 yards and 3 TD's, and he added 4 more touchdowns on the ground. West Virginia QB Geno Smith, meanwhile, was picked off twice and limited to 124 total yards. The interceptions were the first for Smith since the USF game on the final week of the regular season last year.

Oklahoma also had an easy day at the office, swatting Kansas 52-7 in Norman.

But in numerous stadiums, close calls and exciting finishes were the order of the day.

Ohio State needed overtime to take care of Purdue 29-22. After QB Braxton Miller was taken to the hospital in the 3rd quarter, Kenny Guiton rallied the Buckeyes to the win. Ohio State scored on a 2-yard pass with 3 seconds left in regulation and tied it on a 2-point conversion throw to Jeff Heuerman. In bonus time, Carlos Hyde scored on a 1-yard run before Purdue was held on downs.

Miller was examined for a possible concussion, neck or shoulder injury and released.

LSU spotted Texas A&M a 12-0 lead before scoring the next 24 points in a 24-19 win. Four Aggie turnovers aided the LSU cause.

Notre Dame edged BYU 17-14 as George Atkinson's 2-yard run with over 13 minutes left held up as the game-winner. Riley Nelson had a pair of second quarter touchdown passes for the Cougars, the first of which snapped the Irish's string of 17 quarters without allowing an offensive touchdown since the 4th quarter of the Purdue game on September 8. Opponents have scored just 66 points on Notre Dame in 7 games.

Seth Doege's 7th touchdown pass of the game came in the 3rd overtime as Texas Tech beat TCU 56-53.

Maryland clanked a 32-yard field goal off the left upright to fall 20-18 at home to North Carolina State, leaving the Wolfpack in the best position to win the ACC Atlantic division after its earlier win over Florida State.

Duke upset North Carolina 33-30 on a touchdown with 13 seconds left. Coupled with Miami's 33-20 home loss to Florida State and Virginia Tech's 38-17 setback at Clemson, the Blue Devils are in first in the ACC Coastal division. Duke is also bowl eligible for the first time since 1994.

Louisville remained unbeaten as USF's rally fell short in a 27-25 home win for the Cardinals. The Bulls went ahead with 3:09 left on a B.J. Daniels TD pass to Andre Davis but lost the lead a minute and 34 seconds later on Teddy Bridgewater's pass to Eli Rogers.

Also in the Big East, Rutgers spotted Temple a 10-0 lead before rallying in Philadelphia for a 35-10 victory. But Cincinnati's perfect season fell by the wayside in a 29-23 upset loss at Toledo.

In the Big Ten, Nebraska overcame a 28-16 deficit in the final 6:08 to take a 29-28 win away from Northwestern in Evanston. Meanwhile, Michigan edged rival Michigan State 12-10 on a 38-yard field goal with 5 seconds left.

Western Kentucky lost 43-42 at home in overtime to Louisiana-Monroe when the Warhawks went for two after answering the Hilltoppers' TD. ULM tied the game on a 12-yard TD pass with 31 second left to force the extra action. WKU led by as much as 28-7 in the second quarter, only to see that lead get carved to 28-21 by halftime.

Trailing 37-21, Troy scored the last 17 points of the game and kicked the game-winning 42-yard field goal with 11 seconds left to edge visiting FIU 38-37.

It was only fitting that the last game to end on Saturday also came down to the wire. San Diego State made up a 10-point deficit in the final four minutes of regulation and then converted a two-point pass play on their first overtime possession to stun Nevada 39-38 in Reno. It was only the 5th all-time meeting between the schools and the first since 2004.

Elsewhere, Texas outpointed Baylor 56-50 in Austin and Stanford won the "Big Game" 21-3 at home over Cal. Oregon State is still undefeated after sloshing through the rain for a 21-7 win over Utah in Corvallis. Oregon stayed unbeaten with a 43-21 win at Arizona State on Thursday night.

The college football week began last Tuesday with North Texas getting a 30-23 home upset win over Louisiana-Lafayettte, and the Ragin' Cajuns will kick off the coming week's slate when they host Arkansas State this Tuesday night (Oct. 23).

FBS vs. FCS:
No games this week pit FBS schools against the FCS. FBS teams are 89-10 (.899) on the year vs. FCS teams and are 727-65 (.918) in such games since 2003.

This year, 101 FBS teams play a total of 108 games against FCS foes. UTSA is in its first year of transitioning from the FCS and plays 4 such schools. Cincinnati, Florida State, Pittsburgh and Texas A&M each play two such games.

UNLV - Lost 19 straight road games. Lost 32-7 at Boise State on Saturday.

NEW COACHES:
28 teams have a new college football coach in the FBS ranks this season. Last season saw 24 new head coaches, 10 of whom matched or exceeded the W-L record of their predecessors' final season.